CiiAP. X. CUCURBITACEOUS PLANTS. 381 



in assuming that varieties never acquire a slight degree of mntnal 

 sterility, as we shall more fully see in a future chapter when certain 

 facts are given on the high authority of Gartner and Kolreuter.'^" 



The forms of (J. pe^jo are classed by Naudni under seven sections, 

 each including subordinate varieties. He considers this plant 

 as probably the most variable in the world. The fruit of one 

 variety (pp. 33, 46) exceeds in value that of another by more than 

 two thousand fold ! When the fruit is of very large size, the 

 number produced is few (p. 45) ; when of small size, many are 

 produced. No less astonishing (p. 33) is the variation in the shape 

 of the fruit , the typical form apparently is egg-like, but this 

 becomes either drawn out into a cylinder, or shortened into a flat 

 disc. We have also an almost infinite diversity in the colour and 

 state of surface of the fruit, in the hardness both of the shell and of 

 the flesh, and in the taste of the flesh, which is either extremely 

 sweet, fixiinaceous, or slightly bitter. The seeds also difier in a 

 slight degree in shajw, and wonderfiilly in size (p. 34), namely, 

 from six or seven to more than twenty-five millimetres in length. 



In the varieties which grow upright or do not run and climb, 

 the tenilrils, though useless (p. 31), are either j^resent or are repre- 

 sented by various semi-monstrous organs, or are quite absent. The 

 tendrils are even absent in some running varieties in which the 

 stems are much elongated. It is a singular fact that (p. 31) in all 

 the varieties with dwarfed stems, the leaves closely resemble each 

 ' ther in shape. 



Those naturalists v^^lio believe in the immutability of species 

 often maintain that, even in the most variable forms, the 

 characters which they consider of specific value are unchange- 

 able. To give an example from a conscientious writer,^^* 

 who, relying on the labours of M. Naudin, and referring to 

 the species of Cucurbita, says, " an milieu de toutes les varia- 

 tions dii fruit, les tiges, les feuilles, les calices, les corolles, les 

 etamines restent invariables dans chacune d'elles." Yet M. 

 Naudin, in describing Cucurbita pepo (p. 30), says, " Ici, 

 d'ailleurs, ce ne sont pas seulement les fruits qui varient, c est 

 aussi le feuillage et tout Is port de la plante. Neanmoins, je 

 crois qu'on la distinguera toujours facilement des deux autres 

 especes, si Ton veut ne pas perdre de vue les caracteres 



'^* Gartner, ' Bastarderzeugnng,' Nicotiana, see Kolrenter, 'Zweite 



1849, s. 87, and s. 169 with respect Forts.,' 17G4, s. 5a ; though this is a 



to Maize; on Verbascum, ibid., ss. 92 somewhat ililierent case. 

 and ISl ; also his ' Kenntniss der Be- '^^ ' De I'lispece,' par M. Godron 



Iruchtung," s. 137. With respect to torn. ii. p. 04. 



